Brigadier-General Cecil Vernon Wingfield-Stratford CB, CMG (7 October 1853 – 5 February 1939) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

and an English international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a forward.

Early life

Born in

West Malling West Malling ( , historically Town Malling) is a market town in the Tonbridge and Malling district of Kent, England. It has a population of 2,590. Landmarks West Malling contains several historic buildings, including St Leonard's Tower, West ...

, Wingfield-Stratford was educated at the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

, a descendant of the ancient

Stratford Family The House of Stratford () is a British aristocratic family, originating in Stratford-on-Avon between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. The family has produced multiple titles, including Earl of Aldborough, Viscount Amiens, Baron Baltin ...

. He married Rosalind Isabel Bligh, daughter of Reverend Hon. Edward Vesey Bligh and Lady Isabel Mary Frances Nevill, on 12 October 1881. They had one son,

Esmé Cecil Wingfield-Stratford Esmé Cecil Wingfield-Stratford (20 September 1882 – 20 February 1971) was an English historian, writer, mind-trainer, outdoorsman, patriot and ruralist. Life Wingfield-Stratford was born in 1882, the elder son of Brigadier-General Cecil Win ...

Sporting career

Wingfield-Stratford played as outside-left for the Woolwich Academy and for

, and earned one cap for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

versus Scotland in 1877. He was described by C.W. Alcock as "very fast and useful as a wing; wants a little more 'last' resumably meaning staying-power" He took part in the replayed 1875 FA Cup final, both matches taking place at

Kennington Oval Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between th ...

when his team won the Final for their only time, against

Old Etonians This is a list of notable former pupils of Eton College, a 13–18 public fee-charging and boarding secondary school for boys in Eton, Berkshire, England. Former pupils of the school are known as Old Etonians. Former pupils Politics *Robert ...

. The first match, on 13 March, ended in a 1–1 draw after extra time but the replay, three days later, ended in a conclusive 2–0 score. The Engineers' scorer in both matches, coincidentally, was Henry Waugh Renny-Tailyour who in September the same year married a sister of Wingfield-Stratford. He also played for M.C.C.

Military career

Wingfield-Stratford was commissioned into the Royal Engineers as Lieutenant in 1873. He ultimately retired as Brigadier-General in 1909 after being Chief Engineer in Ireland since 1906, without seeing any campaign service. However, he was recalled from retirement to serve in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1914 and held command on the Western Front, taking part in the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used Chemical weapons in World War I, ...

in 1915, the Attack on the Gommecourt Salient on the first day of the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

in 1916, and was Commander R.E. of the 46th Division. He was mentioned in despatches four times and awarded the C.M.G. in 1916 and C.B. in 1918.

Later life

Wingfield-Stratford died in retirement aged eighty-five at Fartherwell, West Malling, on 5 February 1939.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wingfield-Stratford, Cecil 1853 births 1939 deaths Men's association football forwards Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath England men's international footballers English men's footballers Royal Engineers A.F.C. players Royal Engineers officers Cecil British Army generals of World War I People from West Malling Footballers from Kent Military personnel from Kent 19th-century British Army personnel